PG&E wants to boost revenue by $2.7 billion, pushing up bills

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Tuesday asked state regulators for permission to collect an extra $2.7 billion from its customers over the course of three years, using the money for technology upgrades and improved disaster response.

If the California Public Utilities Commission approves it, monthly bills for a typical PG&E residential customer would rise about $4 in 2017.

California utilities regularly file three-year revenue requests, formally known as general rate cases, with the commission.

In July, the utilities commissioners made fundamental reforms to the way they calculate rates, narrowing the difference between electricity prices paid by people who use large amounts of power versus those who use the least.

The extra money would fund smart-grid technology to help integrate rooftop solar power into the utility’s grid, construction of a backup control center for natural gas operations and faster response times to complaints of possible gas leaks, according to the company.

“PG&E’s been playing this tune over and over, saying ‘We need more money for reliability, we need more money for safety,’” said Mindy Spatt, spokeswoman for The Utility Reform Network.